Külpolitika - A Magyar Külügyi Intézet elméleti-politikai folyóirata - 1976 (3. évfolyam)
1976 / 2. szám - A tanulmányok orosz és angol nyelvű tartalmi kivonata
Gsaba Sz. Kiss: On the international discussion of the new world economic order The new international economic order proposed by the developing countries has been hotly debated in a great many places since the 6th Special Session of the UN General Assembly. The developing countries look on radical and structural reforms in the international division of labour which is a legacy of the colonial age as a fight for a second liberation. The charter of the economic rights and duties of states opened the gates towards a uniform and comprehensive regularization of international economic relations which serves the interests of all states. Starting early in 1974, the developed capitalist countries have used a series of tactical moves to hinder the implementation of the demands of the developing countries, though the socialist countries supported them on most points. Passivity, an emphasis on reservations, the „tactics of small steps”, a search for forums of restricted application, delays, demands for realism, attempts to create disunity amongst the developing countries, from time to time outright denial, and an absence of constructive proposals were characteristic of the position of the West. Early in 1975 these tactics became more elastic, and those of the developing countries more pragmatic. They now made short-term demands as well. The compromise resolution passed by the 7th Special Session of the UN General Assembly was a fruit of this „dialogue”. The interpretation of the new economic order differs however, and the opposed interests of the West and the developing countries continue unchanged. The article freely quotes from official papers of the UN General Assembly and other sources, surveying the clash and evolution of ideas concerning trade in raw materials and industrialization. It reports on the proposals submitted by the United States to the 7th Special Session of the UN General Assembly, and, finally, on measures taken by the developing countries to strengthen their negotiating positions and cooperation amongst them. The role of the socialist countries in the connected discussions is stressed, as well as the reasons for the interest they have shown. Ferenc Somogyi: Efforts towards economic union in West Africa The majority of countries in West Africa obtained their political independence early in the 1960s. The burning problem of the present is to achieve economic independence, and to put an end to backwardness. Cooperation between countries could well be an important instrument in the fight for economic progress in the national interest, and for the achievement and/or consolidation of economic independence. Against earlier expectations political independence was not followed by continent-wide integration but by the creation of economic units within a country’s borders which tried to cooperate on a regional basis, though without showing any great success. The idea of an economic integration first arose in West Africa in 1966, though the time was not ripe yet, either politically, or economically. Rigid monocultural economies that had taken shape in the age of colonial oppression, close links with the mother country, a fear of Anglophone domination on the part of the Francophone countries, primarily a fear of Nigerian hegemony, and difficulties due to ideological and political differences, and such as were rooted in the colonial past, for a long time stood in the way of efforts designed to produce economic cooperation. Changes in international economic relations, and in the West-African countries themselves led to the signing of the Lagos agreement in 1975, which must be reckoned a first step towards regional economic integration. The aim of the ECOWAS charter is an economic union which will put an end to all obstacles to the free flow of commodities, labour and capital between member states, creating common tariffs for trade with the outside world, and coordinating economic, financial and social policies, allowing member states to act as an economic unit in their relations with third countries, but they do not intend to create a common currency or produce complete financial or industrial integration precisely because of the conditions which handicap cooperation. Economic cooperation in West Africa can only be compared to integrationist tendencies in developed countries to a limited extent. The low level of development, and restricted domestic markets, small by any standard, demand cooperation already at the level of incipient mechanisation, that is at the very beginnings of industrialization. A contradiction is produced by the fact that VII
